Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock Price Down 0.1% Following Insider Selling
Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM – Get Free Report)’s share price traded down 0.1% on Friday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $299.63 and last traded at $301.18. 4,892,275 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 28% from the average session volume of 6,832,268 shares. The stock had previously closed at $301.38.
Specifically, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 216 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.71, for a total value of $60,201.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $799,618.99. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, COO Brian Millham sold 293,965 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total transaction of $82,310,200.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 216 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.71, for a total value of $60,201.36. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $799,618.99. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 901,258 shares of company stock valued at $256,569,563. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several research firms have recently weighed in on CRM. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Salesforce from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Wedbush upped their price objective on Salesforce from $280.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Salesforce from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Morgan Stanley raised Salesforce from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $290.00 to $350.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 21st. Finally, TheStreet raised Salesforce from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $304.32.
View Our Latest Stock Analysis on CRM
Salesforce Stock Down 0.1 %
The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $294.72 and a 200-day moving average price of $252.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm has a market cap of $292.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 71.71, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.28.
Salesforce (NYSE:CRM – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.06. Salesforce had a return on equity of 10.42% and a net margin of 11.87%. The firm had revenue of $9.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.01 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current year.
Salesforce Announces Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 14th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 13th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 9.52%.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. acquired a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Union Savings Bank acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Aspect Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.
Salesforce Company Profile
Salesforce, Inc provides Customer Relationship Management (CRM) technology that brings companies and customers together worldwide. The company’s service includes sales to store data, monitor leads and progress, forecast opportunities, gain insights through analytics and artificial intelligence, and deliver quotes, contracts, and invoices; and service that enables companies to deliver trusted and highly personalized customer support at scale.
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